RIVER LINKAGE PLAN:::by Er. Karunakar Supkar's new article

RIVER LINKAGE PLAN::: Orissa will only carry water from Brahmaputra to Godavari

Er. Karunakar Supkar
Former Managing Director, Orissa Hydro Power Corporation.

The December 2004 Tsunami has changed the geographical scenario of many countries of Asia, including India. Nature can do anything. Mankind is helpless. But, how far it is justified to change the map of our country, under the pretext of bringing water from highly populated areas to the areas where there is scarcity of water. If the river linkage project is implemented it is definite that hundreds of villages will be submerged, and it will bring a change in the map of India.
In between 1950 to 1993 at least two crores 16 lakhs people were displaced for various mega-projects like big dams, thermal stations, big industries and sanctuaries. Among the affected people 45% are from Schedule tribes and most of them are from the poor section. Due to these thirty Rivers linking projects, how many hundreds of villages would be submerged in water and how many crores of people would be displaced, it is yet to be estimated as detailed Project reports are not yet prepared. For this man-made Tsunami, Indian Map may be changed entirely. In 2001, the Central Government’s National Water Development Agency had estimated 5 lakhs 60 thousand Crore rupees (Rs. 560 000 crores) as the cost of this project. Now it may go high up to more than Rs. 15 lakhs Crores. It has been aimed to irrigate 3 crore 50 lakhs hectares cultivable land and generate 35 thousand megawatt Hydro Electric power. Aims and objectives are flood control, drought control, supply of drinking water, fishery, water supply to industries, and pollution control. If this project is implemented, the possibility of commercialization of water can not be ruled out.
In March 2005, the Minister of Water Resources informed that in the first phase Ken-Betwa project, and in the second phase Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal project will be implemented, in the second phase Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan states are to be involved. In the third phase, Mahanadi-Godabari project will be implemented. The central minister of Water Resources said, “The main issue is the consensus amongst the states involved in these projects”. Prior to this, in December 2002, the then minister of Water Resources of Orissa had said, “A plan is in the process of being worked out to link all the rivers from Subarnarekha to Rishikulya”. It is known from the statements of the two ministers, the Government of Orissa is prepared to implement the River linking Plan. It is learnt from reliable sources that the following projects are going to be implemented. The Subarnarekha-Mahanadi project will be implemented. The Ganga-Damodar-Subarnarekha project will be expanded and will be linked with Subarnrekha - Mahanadi project In the Ganga-Damodar-Subarnarekha project, Subarnarekha barrage will be built at Bosraghat in West Bengal. In this project Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal will be involved. About 8 lakhs 48 thousand hectares land will be irrigated in total and out of this 30 thousand hectares land of Orissa will be irrigated.
According to the Subarnarekha-Mahanadi project, water will be carried from Subarnarekha barrage to Manibhadra reservoir in Orissa. Manibhadra Dam and about 313 km of irrigation canals are included in this project. It is estimated, more than one lakh and seventy-five thousand hectares of land is to be acquired for this. By submerging one lakh 75 thousand hectares of land, only 4 lakh 18 thousand hectares (about two and half times) will be irrigated through Manibhadra Reservoir. In any project, the standard practice applied should be as follows: Proposed irrigated land should be at least 5 to 8 times the land to be submerged. Any deviation to it, is not justified. Through this project, the drought prone areas such as Nuapada, Kalahandi, Bolangir and Padampur are not getting any irrigation facility, since those areas are at higher levels. In these areas of Orissa, there is no feasibility of mitigation of famine. Through large dam projects, only partial control of floods can be achieved, complete flood control is not possible. If Manibhadra Dam project is implemented more than one lakh seventy-five thousand hectares of land will be submerged which is twice the submerged area of Hirakud Dam. As a result, lakhs of people will be displaced. The people of this affected area have already rejected this Manibhadra project. If the name of Manibhadra project is changed to Subalaya, it will also be rejected by the people. One side of the river is named Manibhadra and the other side Subalaya. It is said that through the river-linkage projects pollution will be controlled. But the fact remains that more than 60 thousand hectares of forest land may be submerged. As a result the habitants of the wild animals will be affected. For this, there will be a great impact on the surrounding. It is really a laughing proposition that there will be pollution control under these conditions.
The Minister of Water Resources has admitted that in this project the agreement of the involved parties is most necessary. In the past, a lot of agreements have been signed on the issue of distribution of water between different states, but in many cases, these agreements have been violated. The central government gets into embarrassing position for these disputes. If the issue is not solved at the political level, some states go to the courts of law for settlement. There is little hope of the concerned states giving their consent for River-linking projects. There is scarcity of water in river Mahanadi in any season, other than rainy reason. In fact, Orissa will only function as a medium of carrying water from Brahmaputra to Godavari. Orissa will not be benefited in any manner. All these project proposals are now in cold storage. Let it remain so.

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